WWE HOFer Scott Steiner Discusses Bizarre Promo Style

To many fans, Scott Steiner is best remembered for his outrageous promos in WWE, WCW, and TNA. It was next to impossible to guess what might come out of Steiner's mouth on a given night, leading to quite a few memorable moments over the years. Steiner recently appeared on "The Wrestling Classic" and offered some insight into how he initially developed his promo style in WCW.

"A lot of that was a fear of failure, or the politics of wrestling," Steiner said. "I knew I had to be different from Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, because they were the cool guys ... and Hogan did his thing, so I had to go the opposite of that."

Tagging with his brother Rick, Scott began trying new things in his promo work to see what would catch on with the WCW audience. Soon, live crowds began responding to the tag team with more enthusiasm than ever. Steiner credits that to the genuine emotion behind his words.

"A lot of people could sense that I was pissed off, because I was," Steiner continued. "You had Standards and Practices that you had to get by. I just tried to blur the lines of what I was really trying to say to make it able to get on TV."

One of Steiner's most fondly remembered promos took place in TNA, with the wrestler hyping an upcoming three-way between himself, Samoa Joe, and Kurt Angle. The promo would later become known by fans as Steiner Math, with the former WCW star breaking down the odds to prove that he was going to win the match. Years later, clips of the promo would circulate widely online, turning it into a meme.

The promo is regularly the subject of tributes, with wrestlers such as Steiner's nephew Bron Breakker and AEW star MJF paying homage to Steiner Math. While Steiner understands why Breakker would pull the promo out, he was "surprised" when MJF referenced it, though both instances entertained him.

"That promo has [stood] the test of time, so it's pretty cool," Steiner said. "Sometimes you really never know what's gonna catch on with the crowd, and this kind of seems to be lingering on all these years later."

While MJF's reference to Steiner happened in 2023, Breakker's was much more recent, with the former WWE Intercontinental Champion reciting the promo ahead of WrestleMania 41. Though Breakker lost his title match at that event, he has since joined forces with Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman, implying big things to come for the second-generation wrestler.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Wrestling Classic" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.